


Outrun the Nightmare

by CelticKitsune



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Loneliness, Mental Instability, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 22:24:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18508288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticKitsune/pseuds/CelticKitsune
Summary: Mikey wasn’t ready to let his brothers go, so for now, he would continue to cling onto them, until the darkness came to claim him as it already had in his nightmares.





	Outrun the Nightmare

“This is why nobody wants to be with you!” Raph shouted, annoyance clear on his face even as Mikey shrank away from him. 

Reaching out, Mikey knew he had to do or say something, apologise to Raph for whatever it was he had done wrong. Fingers brushed the warm skin of Raph’s arm, only to have the red-banded turtle vanish completely, leaving behind nothing but the dense darkness that surrounded him. 

“Raph?” Mikey’s eyes widened and he looked around quickly. A short distance away he saw Donnie sitting on the floor, tinkering with something. “Donnie! Donnie! Raph just-”

“Not now, Mikey, I’m busy,” Donnie said, not even looking at his brother as he turned the metal bit over in his hand. 

“But Donnie...” Mikey moved forward, feeling something crunch under his foot. The sound drew Donnie’s attention. 

“Seriously, Mikey?” Donnie’s frustration was clear on his face as he carefully put the metal bit down, shoved Mikey away, and picked up the broken bits. “Perfect, I’m going to have to go get another piece to replace this,” he huffed. 

“Donnie, you’re not listening!” Mikey felt like crying as he moved forward again, kicking a few more pieces by accident. 

“Mikey!” Donnie snapped, narrowing his eyes at Mikey. “Just… get out of here, before you break anything else.” Grabbing him by the shoulder the orange-banded turtle was turned sharply and shoved forward. 

“But Donnie! Raph just-” 

Mikey turned again, only to find Donnie now gone too. The only evidence he had even been there was all the pieces of tech lying around the floor in form of organization only Donnie could understand. 

Mikey backed away, shaking his head in denial, his breathing becoming irregular as the darkness seemed to press in on him from all sides. In the distance, the small light of a candle could be seen and Mikey knew it had to be his eldest brother. He took off running, his feet splashing into pitch black water, but he didn’t stop. 

“Leo,” he said, pushing forward, the water rising up to his knees, then waist, and before he knew it Mikey was trying to swim through it. 

Heavy weights grabbed onto his ankles pulling him down. 

“Leo! Leo!” Splashing and crying out for the only brother he had left. He could just see him, sitting on the other shore. “Leo!” 

Finally, the blue-banded turtle looked up from his meditation, looking around as if trying to find who was calling him. 

“Leo! Help! I can’t… Leo!” Mikey struggled forward a little more, his head being pulled underwater from the weight dragging him down. He struggled, breaking the surface once more and screamed for his brother. 

Leo was now on his feet, standing knee deep in the water and Mikey knew if he just kept making a little more noise, Leo would find him. Leo would protect him, it was his job as the leader, as the eldest brother. But the darkness drew closer and Leo’s attention was diverted from his drowning brother. 

“No… no, don’t go! Leo! Don’t leave me! Don’t!” 

Mikey struggled harder, kicking his feet, trying to push himself forward and keep his head above the water that was becoming thicker, making it harder to keep moving. Being pulled under, the darkness filling his mouth as he screamed again, cutting off all sound. 

The candlelight on the shore was still there and Mikey could make out the silhouette of Leo, he was talking with someone, smiling and laughing with the black haired girl, his shell turned towards Mikey as the younger turtle was pulled deeper into the blackness. 

\-----------x

Mikey woke with a scream, struggling and fighting against the force that was still holding him down, making his movements sluggish and clumsy. He screamed again when he fell, hitting the floor hard. 

A moment later light flooded the area and his family was there, drawn in by his screaming. 

“What the shell, Mikey, it’s four in the morning,” Raph grumbled. 

Mikey blinked in confusion, looking at each of his brothers in turn, taking in the sight of them standing there, in his room, the momentary looks of worry each of them wore fading away to their normal annoyance. It had just been a dream, a nightmare. 

“You okay, Mikey?” Leo asked, somehow making the question sound more like an obligation than true worry. 

“Oh, yeah, totally fine, bro, just had a weird dream about fighting a giant squid,” Mikey lied easily as he pushed the blankets off his legs, freeing himself. 

“You screamed,” Donnie said. 

“You’d scream too if you were suddenly fighting a giant squid in your bedroom,” Mikey laughed, the sound light and joyful. 

“Whatever, I’m goin’ back ta bed.” Raph waved off Mikey’s explanation.

The reaction to grab onto Raph was so great that Mikey took a step forward to do so before he stopped himself. He looked at Leo and Donnie next, silently pleading with them not to go, the whole while his smile was still wide. 

“Well, I’ve got some stuff in my lab I need to get back to,” Donnie said, turning around to follow Raph out. Leo’s attention was diverted from Mikey and now fixed on the purple-banded turtle. 

“You really should get some sleep, you’ve been up all night,” Leo scolded, the two of them starting a civil argument about Donnie’s sleeping habits. And Mikey was left alone in his room again, the only light coming from the hallway. 

The shadows on the wall seemed to taunt him, but still, he moved to his bedroom door, slowly closing it, the voices of his brothers being silenced as it clicked shut. He knew his brothers didn’t need him anymore, they hadn’t needed him in a long time now. He felt guilty for still needing them, for holding them back and being an extra burden to all of them. 

Grabbing his blanket Mikey crawled back onto his bed, wrapping it tightly around himself. Fetching his old teddy bear from its shelf, he clutched it close to his plastron, taking what little comfort he could from the inanimate object. 

He knew one day he was going to lose all of them, just as they had lost Splinter. But Mikey wasn’t ready to let his brothers go, so for now, he would continue being greedy, and clinging onto them, until the darkness came to claim him as it already had in his nightmares. 

End


End file.
